Warp knitting machine

ABSTRACT

WARP KNITTING MACHINE HAVING A NEEDLE BAR ZONE AND MEANS FOR SUPPLYING WARP THREADS THERETO INCLUDES A WEFTFILLING DEVICE HAVING HOLDER MEMBERS FOR MAKING A WEFT READY OUTSIDE THE NEEDLE BAR ZONE, THE HOLDER MEMBERS BEING DISPOSED IN THE VICINITY OF WEFT REVERSAL LOCATIONS AND BEING ROTATABLE IN CLOSED TRAVEL PATHS THROUGH POSITIONS WHEREIN THE WEFT IS TAKEN UP AND DELIVERED BY THE HOLDER MEMBERS TO THE NEEDLE BAR ZONE, MEANS FOR GUIDING THE WEFT TO THE WARP THREADS, THREAD GUIDE MEANS COOPERATING WITH THE HOLDER MEMBERS FOR MAKING THE WEFT READY, THE THREAD GUIDE MEANS BEING DISPLACEABLE IN THE TRAVEL PATH OF ONE OF THE HOLDER MEMBERS, THE HOLDER MEMBERS BEING DISPLACEABLE IN SUBSTANTIALLY VERTICAL DIRECTION AND IN DIRECTION TRANSVERSE THERETO WITHIN A PLANE DISPOSED TRANSVERSELY TO THE NEEDLE BAR.

Nov. 2, 1971 s, FURST v 3,616,657

WARP KNITTING MACHINE Filed July 24, 1969 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Nov. 2, 1971 FURST WARP KNITTING MACHINE Filed'July 24', 1969 United States Patent 3,616,657 WARP KNITTING MACHINE Stefan Fiirst, Monchen-Gladbach, Germany, assignor to Walter Reiners, Monchen-Gladbach, Germany Filed July 24, 1969, Ser. No. 844,392 Claims priority, application Germany, July 26, 1968, P 17 60 974.4-26 Int. Cl. D04b 23/00 U.S. Cl. 66-84 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Warp knitting machine having a needle bar zone and means for supplying warp threads thereto includes a weftfilling device having holder members for making a weft ready outside the needle bar zone, the holder members being dispoesd in the vicinity of weft reversal locations and being rotatable in closed travel paths through positions wherein the weft is taken up and delivered by the holder members to the needle bar zone, means for guiding the weft to the warp threads, thread guide means cooperating with the holder members for making the weft ready, the thread guide means being displaceable in the travel path of one of the holder members, the holder members being displaceable in substantially vertical direction and in direction transverse thereto within a plane disposed transversely to the needle bar.

My invention relates to warp knitting machine and, more particularly, to a machine of the general type disclosed in my copending application Ser. No. 840,161, filed on July 9, 1969.

In my copending application I describe a warp knitting machine having a zone wherein knitting needles are disposed and means for supplying warp threads to the needles. The warp knitting machine also includes a device for filling a weft which has holder members for making the weft ready outside the needle zone, the holder members being disposed in the vicinity of weft reversal locations and being rotatable in closed travel paths, and means for guiding the weft to the warp threads. In addition, the holder members have a thread guide cooperating therewith for making the weft ready, the thread guide being displaceable in the closed travel path of one of the holder members. The device for filling a weft operates with all kinds of conventional needles.

In warp knitting machines having latch needles, it is necessary for effecting absolutely trouble-free functioning thereof, to provide a latch catch-wire along the needle bar so that a jump of the latches, when stitches are slipped off the needles, will not cause premature latching of the needles. The presence of this latch catch-wire in warp knitting machines with a weft-filling device such as that of my aforementioned copending application, hampers the insertion or filling of a weft, however, fromv the madeready position thereof slightly upstream of the latch needles to the position thereof downstream of the latch needles, and moreover because the weft is filled or inserted at one edge of the fabric web from above and at the other edge thereof from below.

It is an object of my invention to provide warp knitting machine which avoids the foregoing disadvantage of the heretofore known machines of this general type. More specifically, it is an object of my invention to provide warp knitting machine which will permit trouble-free filling of a weft notwithstanding the presence in the machine of a latch catch-wire.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, I provide according to my invention warp knitting machine having a needle bar zone and means for supplying warp threads 3,616,657 Patented Nov. 2., 1971 thereto comprising a weft-filling device having holder members for making a weft ready outside the needle bar zone, the holder members being disposed in the vicinity of reversal locations of the weft and being rotatable in closed travel paths through positions wherein the Weft is taken up and delivered by the holder members to the needle bar zone, means for guiding the Weft to the warp threads, thread guide means cooperating with the holder members for making the weft ready, the thread guide means being displaceable in the travel path of one of the holder members, the holder members being displaceable in substantially vertical direction and in direction transverse thereto within a plane disposed transversely to the needle bar.

In accordance with other features of my inventic 1, each of the holder members is located at one end of a shaft which is cardanically suspended by the other end thereof so as to be pivotable in substantially vertical direction and in direction transverse thereto. Moreover, means are provided on the shaft for rotating the respective holder member.

By means of the displacement of the holder members in direction transverse to substantially vertical direction, the holder members in continuously alternating sequence supply or convey a weft from a weft take-up position toward the needle bar while simultaneously turning or rotating it into the delivery position which is necessary for opening the loop formed by the weft. After the weft is tied to the warp threads during the displacement of the holder members in the substantially vertical direction, without rotation thereof, however, the holder members are withdrawn from the loop formed by the Weft so as to be returned to the position thereof whereat the weft is taken up. As the holder members are being returned to the weft take-up position thereof, they are simultaneously rotated back to the original attitude thereof at that position.

In accordance with further features of my invention, I provide an embodiment of the warp knitting machine wherein the means for rotating the respective holder member is coupled to the respective pivotable shaft. The rotating means comprises a rock-and-pinion mechanism. The rotation of the respective holder members is produced as relative motion, accordingly, from the pivoting movement of the shaft.

Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims.

Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in warp knitting machine, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown since various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claim.

The construction and method of operation of the invention, however, together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view partly in section of a warp knitting machine Le. a Raschel knitting machine, constructed in accordance with my invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged side view of a warp knitting machine needle bar with latch catch-wire as may be employed with the warp knitting machine of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the holder members of the warp knitting machine of FIG. 1 in two different stages of operation thereof; and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the drive mechanism for one of the holder members of FIG. 3.

Referring now to the drawings and first, particularly to FIG. 1, thereof, there is shown a Raschel knitting machine having a projecting arm 2 secured by connecting members or cross-pieces 66 and 67 to a frame side wall 1. A pair of cross wound bobbins or cheeses 3 and 4 are carried by the arm 2, and the threads wound thereon are connected in a conventional manner for the purpose of affording continuous unwinding of a weft 5 therefrom. The weft 5 is guided from the cheese '3 through a tubular shaft 6 and through a thread guide 68 located at an outer or free end 7 of a rod 8 bent like a crank. As shown in the enlarged view of FIG. 3, the tubular shaft or rotary bearing 6 is integral with the rod 8, which is pivotally mounted thereby in bearings provided in a cross-piece holder member 9 (FIG. 1) that is secured to the side wall 1. The crank-like rod 8 is provided with a counterweight 10 at the end 8 thereof opposite the free end 7.

The crank-like rod 8 is driven through a transmission system which includes a first sprocket or chain wheel 11, a chain 12 and a second chain wheel 13 that is mounted on a shaft 14. The shaft 14 receives its driving power through a bevel gear 15 mounted thereon and meshing withanother bevel gear 16 fixed to the main drive shaft 17 of the Raschel knitting machine. The main drive shaft 17 carries a cam 18 by means of which a lever 20, carrying follower rollers 69 and 70 in engagement with the surface of the cam 18, is pivotable about a pivot shaft '19. The lever 20 is connected by an articulating joint 22 with a carrier rod 23 which supports a needle bar 21 and raises and lowers the latter in accordance with the motion imparted thereto by the rotating cam 18. The carrier rod 23 is connected at its lower end, as viewed in FIG. 1, through an articulating joint 24 to a pull lever 25, wh ch is rotatably mounted on a pin 26 extending from the side wall 1. A cutting plate 27 is fixed to the side wall 1 and extends transversely thereto. Material 28 which has been knitted in the Raschel knitting machine of the invention is withdrawn from the needles 31 by rotatably mounted feed rollers 29 and 30 suitably driven, for example, through non-illustrated transmission mechanism from the main drive shaft 17, and is wound on a beam 32. At the upper part of the side wall 1, as viewed in FIG. 1, a traverse 33 is mounted transversely to the side wall 1. Furthermore, partial Warp beams 34 and 35 are rotatably mounted in the upper part of the side wall 1, and warp threads 36 and 37 lead therefrom, respectively, through spring seesaws or rocker arms 38 and 38 to the eye needles 39 and 40.

In the vicinity of the weft reversing points 71 (FIG. 3), holder members 102 and 103 are located. The holder members 102 and 103 are, respectively, driven by a driving mechanism 150 shown only in part in FIG 1 but 1n enlarged and greater detail in FIG. 4. The driving mechanism 150 is more fully described hereinbelow.

FIG. 3 shows schematically and in enlarged perspectlve view, the rod 8 bent like a crank which is employed for carrying out the thread insertion or filling operation. As can be readily seen in FIG. 3, the outer or free end 7 of the crank-like rod 8 provided with the thread guide 68 describes a circular rotary path in direction of the arrow 46.

It is furthermore clear from FIG. 3 that the thread guide 68 directs the weft 5 over a tapering nose 105 of the holder member 103, while the loop of the weft 5 is applied by the holder member 102 and the tapering nose 104 thereof to the finished knitted web 28 and behind the latch needles 31 so that the weft 5' is disposed in a position wherein it is tied into the stitches when the latch needles 3-1 rise and the subsequent conventional stitch-forming movements are carried out by the eye needles 39 and 40. Thus, the holder members 102 and 103 simultaneously serve as guide members for applying the weft '5' to the warp threads.

For further details of the operation of the warp knitting machine of the invention in this application, reference can be had to my aforementioned copending application.

In the enlarged view of FIG. 2 there is shown a conventional needle bar 21 provided withlatch needles 31 formed with pivotable latches 100. Also shown therein is the supplied weft 5 in a position thereof when initially taken up by a holder member and at 5' after it has been made ready. The finished knitted fabric 28 is shown overlying the severing plate 27. In the raised position of the latch needles 31, shown in phantom in FIG. 2, the latches abut the latch catch-wire 101. From the view of FIG. 2, it is believed to be readily apparent that the presence of a latch catch-wire 101 prevents insertion or filling of the weft in the embodiment of the warp knitting machine according to my aforementioned copending application from the made-ready position thereof to the position at 5' located behind or downstream of the needles 31 because due to the revolving insertion or filling by the invention of the copending application, the weft 5 is fed to the edges 71 (FIG. 3) of the fabric 28 first from above and then from below.

FIG. 3 shows the operation of the holder members 102 and 103 respectively in weft taking-up and delivery positions, and moreover, the fabric 28 with the edges 71 and the path of the weft 5 which is partly tied-in already and partly just fed to the holder members. The applied weft which has not yet been tied in, but is already at the needles 31 (not shown in FIG. 3 in the interest of clarity), is identified by the reference character 5'. The weft 5 forms a loop 50 about the angularly disposed nose 104 of the holder member 102 and extends therefrom about the nose 105 of the holder member 103 and through the thread guide 68 of the crank-like arm 8 which effects a revolving insertion or filling of the weft. The displacement of the holder members is regulated so that the holder member 102, after the thread 5' has been tied into the warp threads in the direction of the arrows following the outline of a dot-dash triangle 106 is withdrawn from the loop 50, is displaced to the position 102' and at the same time rotated through an angle of 90. In the interim, the weft 5 has been inserted or filled through the thread guide 68 as loop 50 about the nose 105 of the holder member 103- so that the holder member 103, this time in the direction of the arrows following the outline of the dot-dash triangle 107, can again proceed to the delivery position at 105' while simultaneously rotating or pivoting through an angle of 90. After the weft has been tied into the warp threads the withdrawal of the holder member then occurs again in the direction of the arrows and the holder member is returned to its starting position. The displacement path of the holder members 102 and 103 is repeated in this order for each filling or insertion of a weft.

The thread 5" shown in phantom as extending from the thread guide 68 represents how the weft is placed as a loop 50' over the nose 104 of the holder member located again in the position 102 thereof in which the weft is initially taken up thereby, and how, due to the rotation about an angle of 90 during the displacement thereof to the position 102, the loop 50' is not tightened but rather opened. The displacement of the holder members 102 and 103 in substantially vertical and lateral or traverse directions as represented by the outline of the triangles 106 and 107 respectively as shown in FIG. 3 is believed to provide a clear understanding as to how a latch catch-wire can be avoided or bypassed by the displacement in the illustrated directions.

In FIG. 4 there is shown the mechanism for driving and displacing one of the holder members. This drive mechanism includes a sheave 108 mounted on the main drive shaft 17 of the warp knitting machine which transmits through the belt 110 rotary motion to the sheave 109, which is mounted on a shaft 111 so as to rotate cams 112 and 113 that are also mounted on the shaft 111. The shaft 111 is provided with end bearings respectively in the free end of an arm 14 and in a bearing bracket 115. Due to the rotation of the shaft 111, a follower arm 116 having a roller 118 at the end thereof abutting surface of the cam 112 and being biased by a tension spring 117 so as to continuously urge the roller 118 into engagement with the surface of the cam 112, is caused to pivot in accordance with the camming surface, and the pivoting movement is transmitted to a forked member 119 pivotally mounted in a bearing 120 and connected to the arm 116 so as to rotate or pivot therewith. When the forked member 119 pivots, a shaft 122 of the holder member 102 which is rotatably mounted in a bearing bracket 121 performs an angular displacement corresponding to the base line 123 of the triangle 106. Accordingly, a pinion 124, rigidly mounted on the shaft 122 which is supported on a bearing extension 125 of a rotating device 128 that is pivotable about a pin 127 and provided at one end thereof with a rack 126 in which the pinion 124 meshes, is caused to roll along the rack 126. Vertical displacement of the rotating device 128 is effected by a cam 113 also mounted on the shaft 111 and engaging an angular extension 129 of the bearing portion 125, whereby the shaft 122 mounted in the bearing bracket 12 pivots about pin bearings 130 and 131 provided in the fork 119. A tension spring 132 provides the required force-locking contact between the angular extension 129 and the cam 113.

As apparent from FIG. 4, a drive mechanism of the aforedescribed type constructed in accordance with my invention is especially low in mass because, due to the cardanic or gimbal suspension, only the forward portion of the holder member 102 or 103, as the case may be is displaced along the entire distance of the required path. This mechanism is therefore very suitable for the very high speeds found in warp knitting machines. Of course, other transmission means can be employed within the scope of my invention for arranging and displacing the holder members thereof.

Although not shown or described, it is to be noted that the holder member 103 is also provided with the drive mechanism of FIG. 4 or similar drive mechanism for effecting displacement thereof in a manner corresponding to the displacement of the holder member 102.

I claim:

1. Warp knitting machine having a needle bar zone and means for supplying warp threads thereto comprising a weft-filling device having holder members and means for guiding the weft to the war threads, said thread guiding means cooperating with said holder members for making a weft ready outside the needle bar zone, said holder members being disposed in the vicinity of weft reversal locations and being displaceable through positions wherein the weft is taken up and delivered by said holder members to the needle bar zone, said thread guide means being displaceable in a travel path intercepting one of said holder members, means for supporting said holder members within a plane disposed transversely to the needle bar, said supporting means being actuatable for displacing said holder members in substantially vertical direction and in direction transverse thereto within said plane.

2. Warp knitting machine having a needle bar zone and means for supplying warp threads thereto comprising a weft-filling device having holder members and means for guiding the weft to the warp threads, said thread guiding means cooperating with said holder members for making a weft ready outside the needle bar zone, said holder members being disposed in the vicinity of weft reversal locations and being displaceable through positions wherein the weft is taken up and delivered by said holder members to the needle bar zone, said thread guide means being displaceable in a travel path intercepting one of said holder members, said holder members being displaceable in substantially vertical direction and in direction transverse thereto within a plane disposed transversely to the needle bar, each of said holder members being located at one end of a shaft, said shaft being cardanically suspended at the other end thereof and pivotable at said other end.

3. Warp knitting machine according to claim 2, including means located at said shaft for rotating the respective holder member.

4. Warp knitting machine according to claim 3, wherein said holder member rotating means is coupled to said pivotable shaft.

5. Warp knitting machine according to claim 3, wherein said holder member rotating means comprises a guide in the form of a toothed rack.

6. Warp knitting machine according to claim 5, wherein said shaft is supported on said guide and carries a pinion meshing in said rack.

7. Warp knitting machine according to claim 2, including cam means operatively connected to said shaft for imparting pivoting motion thereto.

8. Warp knitting machine according to claim 7, including mechanism for driving said cam means, said cam driving mechanism being operatively connected to the main drive shaft of the warp knitting machine.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,924,649 8/1933 Morton 66-87 X 2,000,643 5/1935 Morton 66-125 X 2,452,579 11/1948 Lambach 6684 FOREIGN PATENTS 551,043 5/1932 Germany 66-86 MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner 

